Blogs

Report: Shanahan was ready to resign last year because of Snyder

Mike Shanahan guided RG3 and the Skins to the playoffs in 2012 after a 3-6 start. (USATSI)n
While some observers and analysts were opining that Redskins coach Mike Shanahan should be fired for the way he allowed Robert Griffin III to play injured in the playoff game vs. Seattle last year, eventually hurting himself again, Shanahan apparently was thinking about leaving the team of his own volition.
And it was reportedly because of the relationship between Griffin and Redskins owner Daniel Snyder.n
Shanahan reportedly was disillusioned with the reverential way Snyder treated Griffin, and partially because of that, he had cleaned out his office before the team's playoff game and was ready to resign, reports ESPN's Dan Graziano.
Here were some of the reported problems:n
• Shanahan believed Snyder's relationship with Griffin was a "complete farce" because of the way the team owner "empower[ed] his quarterback and help[ed] make him feel bigger than the team." One example was the day when backup Kirk Cousins led the team to a win against the Browns after Griffin had been injured, but in the postgame locker-room scene, Snyder reportedly ignored Cousins so he could talk to Griffin. Snyder also apparently sent his personal driver to pick up Griffin's significant other for road games and sent out his security detail to accompany Griffin when he went out for the night in Washington.
• By quitting after a 10-6 record, an NFC East title and a playoff appearance, Graziano writes that Shanahan felt like he was leaving the team on a positive upswing. "He believed the team had come together and shown strong character during the seven-game winning streak on which it ended the regular season," Graziano writes. But when Griffin hurt himself -- which cast much of the blame on Shanahan -- he changed his mind, because he feared the implication would be that he was leaving because of the injury.

• Shanahan declined comment for the story, and Redskins spokesman Tony Wylie said, "That story is ridiculous."
Maybe it is, but maybe it isn't. But is it out of the realm of possibility? Some observers are skeptical.
So Shanahan was going to leave $14M on table right after winning a NFC East Riiiiight. Someone planning an exit strategy if no extension?
— Mike Jones (@MikeJonesWaPo) December 8, 2013Follow Josh Katzowitz on Google+n
Topics: Kirk Cousins, Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins, NFLn
Youn